Some Information on the Draft Law on Industrial Property
Legislative works in the Polish Parliament for the adoption of the new Industrial Property Law are nearing completion. At present, the draft is being prepared for the third reading in Sejm. According to the present expectations, the Law will be finally adopted in late April or early May, with the entry into force on the date of promulgation (on the turn of May/June). The delay in the adoption of the Law was caused by the pressure of legislative works in Parliament on the one hand, and the complexity of the subject-matter under regulation as well as the sensitivity of some controversial issues which required to be consulted with interested circles, on the other hand.
The new law is supposed to bring the Polish system of industrial property protection in full compliance with the TRIPS requirements, in some respects providing even more enhanced protection than that required. When compared with the present regulations, it includes the following changes and additions:
I. Patents
1. It provides for the protection for inventions in all fields of technology.
2. It permits patent claims to be amended for the purpose of claiming enhanced protection, which was not earlier available.
3. It determines detailed conditions for granting compulsory licences.
II. Trademarks
1. It provides full protection for famous, well-known and having-reputation trademarks.
2. It includes the notion of a counterfeit trademark.
3. It provides for penal liability for counterfeiting of a trademark.
4. It provides for a possibility of granting a common right of protection for a trademark.
5. It provides for a possibility for a product bearing a counterfeit trademark to be seized at the border.
6. It permits a trademark application to be divided in respect of a list of goods.
III. Geographical indications
1. In addition to the provisions on combating unfair competition, it provides protection for geographical indications by way of registration.
2. Registration of a geographical indication may be sought by an organization representing interests of the producers from a given territory or by a local or autonomous administration agency.
3. It provides for additional protection for geographical indications for wines and spirits.
4. It provides for a possibility for a product bearing a deceiving geographical indication to be seized at the border.
IV. Industrial designs
1. It provides protection for any industrial designs, including textile designs, by way of registration.
2. It provides for a possibility of covering in one application various individual forms of a subject having common essential features, i.e. varieties of a design.
3. It establishes the 25-year-protection period.
4. It provides for design protection under the copyright regime after the termination of the registration.
V. Topographies on integrated circuits
1. It determines the detailed requisites for the registration of topographies of integrated circuits.
2. It provides for more detailed regulations in respect of the protection for topographies and makes them harmonized with the TRIPS requirements.
VI. Miscellaneous
1. It provides for judicial review of the Patent Office's decisions.
2. It provides for additional rules and procedures for border control.
